{"id":495665,"date":"2026-02-24T05:53:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T05:53:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/495665\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T05:53:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T05:53:10","slug":"steve-odonnell-on-nascar-turning-the-page-and-refocusing-its-identity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/495665\/","title":{"rendered":"Steve O\u2019Donnell on NASCAR turning the page and refocusing its identity"},"content":{"rendered":"

NASCAR President Steve O\u2019Donnell joined ESPN Senior Writer Ryan McGee on Day 2 of SBJ\u2019s National Sports Forum in St. Louis to discuss how the motorsports entity, emerging from a challenging period<\/a>, is resetting its approach to growth and refocusing its long-term direction.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Donnell framed the moment as a reset for NASCAR marked by turbulence across the industry, most notably a federal antitrust lawsuit filed by Michael Jordan\u2019s 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports<\/a> tied to negotiations around the sport\u2019s charter system. The lawsuit was settled in December<\/a>. NASCAR Commissioner Steve Phelps then exited his role in January<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a difficult 18 months,\u201d O\u2019Donnell said. \u201cWe came out of that in a good place … the opportunity now is we\u2019re going into this season really with no contractual obligations out in front of us, no lawsuits, no COVID. We can just talk about how cool NASCAR racing is.\u201d<\/p>\n

That reset, O\u2019Donnell noted, has enabled NASCAR to refocus unifying its teams, tracks, sponsors and media partners. \u201cYour job is simple,\u201d O\u2019Donnell recalled Fox Sports\u2019 Eric Shanks telling him when he first assumed his role. \u201cYou got to get the industry back.\u201d <\/p>\n

Chasing a different priority<\/p>\n

O\u2019Donnell acknowledged that in recent years NASCAR became too \u201cinsular\u201d and, at times, overly focused on chasing new audiences and formats while assuming longtime fans would remain engaged. He said that approach contributed to confusion around the sport\u2019s former championship format and minimized storytelling around winning and star-building.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe probably chased a few too many things trying to be like other sports,\u201d O\u2019Donnell said. \u201cWe assumed that our hardcore fans would stay with us and newer fans would jump in. … Instead of new fans coming in, they did not understand it.\u201d <\/p>\n

The prior model, used from 2014 through 2024,<\/a> resulted in the final race of the season determining the champion in a forced Game 7-type moment. NASCAR has now returned to a \u201cChase\u201d-style championship format<\/a>, mirroring what the Cup series used in the early 2000s. That shift has been one of the most visible signs of NASCAR\u2019s broader reset. <\/p>\n

O\u2019Donnell said the league is now more intentional about embracing its identity while being more open to how it tells its story, including working with social creators and influencers in ways the league \u201cmay not have been comfortable with five years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

O\u2019Donnell added that reset has also been reinforced by the involvement of Michael Jordan, whose role as a 23XI Racing co-owner has brought both credibility and competitive momentum to the sport. On 23XI\u2019s Daytona 500 win by Tyler Reddick<\/a>, O\u2019Donnell pointed to Jordan\u2019s active presence around the team<\/a>: \u201cHe\u2019s there all day. … He grew up a fan.\u201d<\/p>\n

That change is also playing out in NASCAR\u2019s schedule. The 2026 calendar includes experimental events such as a race at a San Diego naval base<\/a> tied to the U.S. Navy\u2019s 250th anniversary, while also restoring races at nostalgic venues like North Wilkesboro and Rockingham. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe deserted our fan base,\u201d O\u2019Donnell said. \u201cSo now what you\u2019re seeing us do is … yes, we can introduce the sport to new fans, but here\u2019s how we got here.\u201d<\/p>\n

International growth remains a longer-term opportunity, with NASCAR operating series in Mexico, Canada, Brazil and Europe. O\u2019Donnell noted immediate focus remains on reestablishing the sport\u2019s U.S. footprint before pursuing further international expansion.<\/p>\n

Managing that balance, O\u2019Donnell said, has made communication one of the most central pieces of his role. O\u2019Donnell: \u201cEvery decision we make … is going to have an effect. … If you don\u2019t make those calls and if you do it in a vacuum, that\u2019s when trouble happens.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NASCAR President Steve O\u2019Donnell joined ESPN Senior Writer Ryan McGee on Day 2 of SBJ\u2019s National Sports Forum…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":495666,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,569,12716,634,82],"class_list":["post-495665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-culture","tag-motorsports","tag-nascar","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495665","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=495665"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495665\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/495666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=495665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=495665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=495665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}